Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

The director of the state exchange resigned Friday. Meanwhile, the Web portal continues to be marked by operational difficulties that are undermining enrollment efforts.

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Health Exchange Director Resigns After Questions About Vacation
The director of Maryland's troubled health insurance exchange resigned Friday amid ongoing technical problems and questions about a Caribbean vacation she took while the online marketplace faltered. Rebecca Pearce, hired two years ago to build a $107 million exchange, leaves her post as officials struggle to repair the system that launched Oct. 1 (Cox, 12/7).

The Washington Post: Rebecca Pearce, Director Of Maryland's Health Insurance Exchange, Resigns
The Maryland official who directly oversaw the rollout of Maryland’s health insurance exchange resigned Friday amid continuing technical problems that have hampered the state’s online enrollment efforts. After an emergency session Friday night, the board of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange accepted the resignation of Rebecca Pearce, its executive director, and thanked her in a statement for working “tirelessly and with tremendous dedication” for more than two years (Wagner and Sun, 12/6).

The Wall Street Journal: Health-Site Snafus Plague Maryland
Maryland is struggling to fix its troubled health-insurance website more than two months after it opened, showing how technology woes are affecting more than just the federal system. The official in charge of Maryland's insurance marketplace, Rebecca Pearce, resigned late Friday after criticism of her decision to take a vacation in the Cayman Islands during Thanksgiving week. New statistics released Friday showed just a trickle of customers signing up for private coverage in the state (Dooren, 12/8).

The Baltimore Sun: Technical Problems, Discord Plagued Health Care Site
Although state officials have provided the public scant detail about the troubled launch of Maryland's version of Obamacare, emails and documents show that the project was beset behind the scenes for months by an array of technical issues, warring contractors and other problems (Cohn and Walker, 12/7).

The Baltimore Sun: No E-mails From Brown On Health Exchange
As Maryland officials touted their implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown was front and center — proudly describing the state as a national leader in preparing for the overhaul. But even though Brown was helping to lead the health care effort, he wrote no emails to the state workers overseeing development of the state's online health insurance marketplace — at least none that his office deemed fit for public release (Cohn and Walker, 12/7).

This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.